Parkersburg Track Meet

Tonight I attended the annual Falcon track meet in Parkersburg, Iowa……the town hit by the F5 tornado last May. The high school there is currently in the process of being rebuilt.

This morning I asked my son where the track meet was taking place……thinking it could not possibly be held in Parkersburg. He sighed and said, “Mom…..think about it…..the track didn’t blow away.” Ok….right…..that makes sense.

In the next photo, those are square stacks of bricks on the scaffolding:

Ok, Ma….tear your eyes away from the construction zone and pay attention to your son, who is contorting himself in preparation for the shuttle hurdle relay.

Hurdle events are my son’s specialty this year. Here’s a scene from the 110m high hurdle race:

And, here an “oops” moment in the 400m low hurdle event. Yeah, my son had to slow up a bit to avoid running into the guy who had stumbled. That’s the way it goes sometimes.

In the background of the above two photos is a church and an elementary school which survived the tornado. Picture a line running from the track to the front of the church (at the left upper corner of the photo)…….all houses and buildings to the left of the line were destroyed in the storm, and everything to the right of it survived. Tonight I parked to the left of the church on a street lined with brand-new houses.

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(I had a first-time experience tonight:  See those blue porta-potties in the right background of the above photo.  Ya gotta love porta-potties sitting right there in the middle of the mixed crowd of people.  Yeah, I was standing there, waiting my turn to go in.  The person ahead of me in the porta-potty was a handsome guy and when he exited the potty HE HELD THE DOOR OPEN for me to walk in.  What a gentleman!  I was almost speechless, but somehow managed to smile demurely and say, “Why, thank you!”)

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The bright sunshine of the late afternoon and early evening cast some intriguing shadow designs here and there:

Track meets last for a long, long, long time, and often into the twilight hours. With envy, I watched the lucky old sun sink away to peaceful rest beyond the goal posts.

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I have an exceptionally busy weekend coming up. If you don’t see me around your blog, please don’t think I’ve forgotten you or that I don’t care. Promise me you won’t do that. And, I appreciate each and every comment on the previous days' posts. Thank you very much!

Tune in tomorrow for some gossip about Fred and Bessie! And, have a wonderful weekend!

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